Continuous filament bulked yarn in tow form



Feb. 26, 1963 a. A. M FARREN ETAL 3,073,542

CONTINUOUS FILAMENT BULKED YARN IN TOW FORM Filed July 31, 1959 mm m SEX mm 7 m m 3&7 m JW A 0 0 WW" mm 7 E a G V. O/ @I Q a W 9v \x w & Q iv W mm F Ml, Q ywm 3 R 7 a o fiwwg 3 w Q MN 3 O/ X Mm vw r fi y 51 ifmw 9 mv w a W 7 i1 mm A k R a, dw Q R b m o kw mm WA v palm an United States Patent Ofilice 3,078,542 Patented Feb. 26, 1963 3,078,542 CONTINUOUS FILAMENI BULKED YARN IN TOW FORM i Gerald A. McFarren and Charles W. Kim, Wilm ngton,

Del., assignors, by mesue assignments, to M dland- Ross Corporation, Cleveland, (mm, a corporation of Ohio Filed July 31, 1959, Ser. No. 830,862 4 Claims. (Cl. 28-72) This invention relates to a method for the manufacture of bulked, crimped, textile yarns, Yarns contemplated by the present invention are those made from fibers or continuous filaments in tow form or otherwise of materials that are capable of acquiring a permanent set such as of synthetic spun polymers generally known as being thermoplastic yarns.

There are a number of processes for the crimping of thermoplastic yarns. One method most commonly utilized is that of passing such yarns through crimping rollers or cylinders into an enclosure or chamber immediately adjacent the rollers wherein the yarns are compressed and folded on themselves to form serrations, or the de sired crimp. A heated setting medium as steam is sometimes injected into the enclosure to effect a partial pla ticizing of the yarns and thus more readily effect permanency of the deformation imparted to them. Such method advantageously lends itself to bulking continuously spun yarns from fiber forming synthetic polymers which may be of polyester, acrylic, acetate, nylon, etc., and capable of being crimped and then set by heat. While this method yields a repetitive crimp for certain textile uses it provides for a monotonous pattern which asserts itself to a noticeable degree in the manufacture of rugs and carpets.

This invention advantageously provides for an improvement to the mentioned method which yields greater bulk or loft to yarn having been crimped. The crimp is disarranged or scrambled to provide a crirnped yarn of a more heterogeneous nature giving more bulk, loft, increased cover, a greater opening or spreading of the filaments; qualities that are desired when such yarn is used in rugs. The improvement lies in a method for scrambling the imparted crimp, or disarranging the crimps between parallel running yarns and even in the individual filaments comprising each of the yarns crimped. The displacement of regularity of crimp may be advantageously effected during the crimping process substantially immediately after the initial basic crimping. Further, the scrambled basic crimp can be made less sharp and, depending on the polymer and a subsequent heat setting under controlled tension, be less subject to shrinkage or pull or draw-down in rugs or carpets during subsequent dyeing operations. The resulting crimped yarn has greater spreading ability, increased resiliency and loft when placed into a rug.

The scrambling or displacement of parallel or concurrent crimps is effected by passing the tow of crimped yarns in frictional contact over narrow edges at sharp angles. Substantially full scrambling is had by passing both sides of the crimped yarns over the narrow edges. Yarns produced by the hereinafter described method yield a final rug texture having desirable increased cover, resiliency, loft and adaptability to design. The method will be more completely described in connection With the accompanying drawing where:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the method for making scrambled bulked yarn of this invention, and;

FIGURE 2 represents a further improvement of the method of FIGURE I intended to ascertain the regularity of initially imparted crimp.

Referring to the drawing, thermoplastic crimpable yarns or yarn tows 13, 14, 15 (each supply spool can have a plurality of yarns) are withdrawn from supply spools lit, 11, 12 generally representing a supply creel. The separated yarn tows are drawn through a guide comb 20 by the crimper 21 having a design generally utilized by the textile industry. As it is Well understood the crimper rolls draw and compress the tow into periodic folds into an adjacent enclosure. Steam can be used, if desired, in the enclosure 21 of the crimper to partially plasticize the thermoplastic yarns and to more readily impart and set the crimp. The back pressure of spring backed gates 22 of the crimper enclosure generally determines the sharpness of the crimp. As the yarn or yarn tows are forced out of the crimper 21 they are dropped into a compartmented scray box 23 where each yarn or yarn tow is temporarily stored in its respective compartment 24, 25, as. The yarn tows are then advanced over a tensioning trio of rolls 27, 28, 29, over a guide roller 36, thence over a second group of tensioning rolls 31, 32, 33. From the second trio of tensioning rolls the crimped yarn tows are led over the first crimp disarranging or scrambling .device 35.

The device 35 comprises a generally triangular member, preferably of metal, having a narrow edge with an angle of about 20. As the yarn tow passes over the narrow metal edge the crimps in the fibers are caused to move.

relative each other and remain so displaced. Where there was a repetitive pattern there now exists a scrambled one or a disarranged one on one side of the yarn.

The yarn tows are similarly passed over a second such crimp disarranging member 36 to treat the other side. The second pass is through a sharply changed path to impart some pressure and so that each side of the yarns is subjected evenly to the scrambling operation. As stated the sharp edges 35, 36 effect a displacement of the serrations or crimp in the yarns of each of the yarns or yarn tows yielding a scrambled, disarranged, or heterogeneous crimp pattern. Furthermore, the scrambling devices 35, 36, or knife edges, can be angularly positioned to the path of the passing yarns so as to effect an angular scrambling not only in the yarns themselves but to a substantial extent to the crimp of the filaments forming the yarns.

For some purposes the scrambled or crimp disarranged yarn or yarn tows are in condition to be used at this stage where draw-down is required or Wanted. The inherent shrinkage characteristics of the scrambled thermoplastic yarns during subsequent dyeing under hot temperature conditions will yield a tight, well spread surface in a carpet or rug. This shrinkage however may not be desirable in all cases. Where depth and loft are wanted then it must be controlled. It can be regulated to a substantial degree by a heat setting step of the scrambled condition of the yarns under regulated tensions. The scrambled, crimped yarn, where draw-down is to be minimized, is given a heat treatment in a subsequent heating chamber. The yarn tows are pulled through a comb guide 37 by drawing and forwarding rolls 38 then into and through the heating chamber 39 wherein the new scrambled positions are reduced in their tendency to shrink. The reduction in shrinkage to control draw-down is done under some desirable tension, in one pass through the chamber 39. While the steam setting reduces the original crimp sharpness it reduces the inherent substantial shrinkage of the yarn to a tolerant range. The setting step also tends to make more permanent the scrambled arrangement of the yarns.

After the shrinkage reducing step the crimp set yarn tows are forwarded by rolls 42 into and temporarily stored in scray box 43 in individual compartments 44, 45, 46. The yarns then are withdrawn by forwarding rollers 47, 48, passed through intervening tensioning means 49, 50,

51, and collected on the bobbins 53, 54, 55, resting on surface driving rollers 56, 57, 58.

The utilization of the compartmented scray boxes 24 and 44 provides operational time because of their temporary storage capacities, such time is used to thread up the intervening sections of the apparatus. Furthermore, should difiiculties occur anywhere along the line beyond the initial crimping operation to any one of a plurality of tows or yarns they can be relaced through the equipment without loss of production or processing down time.

On occasion there may occur instances of skipped crimping. This sometimes results because of a crossingover or pleating of heavier denier yarns or tows having great numbers of individual filaments; the twist, pleat or overlay then passes through a crimper and the yarn goes through without being crimped. To minimize such a possibility from occurring the yarns are passed through a second crimper. As shown in FIGURE 2 crimpers 60 and 63 are positioned in a series with an intermediate scray box 61 permitting temporary storage providing for time required to individually lace each yarn through guiding rollers 62 into the next following crirnper 63. A scray box 64 is also advantageously positioned at the outlet portion of the second crimper 63. The yarns from the second compartmental scray box 64 are then led through scrambled process hereinbefore described.

The herein described crimping procedure is not limited to thermoplastic yarns but also to yarn blends including thermoplastic fibers. The term thermoplastic yarns is to include any yarns including blends capable of being fixed in any shape or form differing from that when spun.

What is claimed is:

1. A process for bulking an untwisted thermoplastic multifilament yarn comprising, imparting a folding crimp to said yarn, and passing said crimped yarn in frictional contact over an edged means to thereby force the fold imparted crimps in the filaments out-of-phase relative to the crimps of adjacent filaments.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the out-of-phase crimped yarn is subjected to a heat setting treatment.

3. A process for bulking a running warp of an untwisted thermoplastic multifilament yarn comprising, simultaneously imparting a folding crimp to a parallel plurality of multifilament yarns, and passing said fold imparted crimped yarns in frictional contact over an edged means to thereby force the crimps in the yarns out-ofphase relative to the crimps in adjacent yarns.

4. The process of claim 3 wherein the out-of-phase crimped yarns are subjected to a heat setting treatment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,033,926 Palmer July 30, 1912 2,208,632 Dreyfus July 23, 1940 2,267,718 Campbell et al Dec. 30, 1941 2,337,986 Fry Dec. 28, 1943 2,369,395 Heymann Feb. 13, 1945 2,385,894 Taylor Oct. 2, 1945 2,502,129 De Brabander Mar. 28, 1950 2,556,011 Swayze et al June 5, 1951 2,789,563 Taylor et al Apr. 23, 1957 2,807,862 Griset Oct. 1, 1957 2,914,835 Slayter et al. Dec. 1, 1959 2,972,798 Stanley et al Feb. 28, 196i 

3. A PROCESS FOR BULKING A RUNNING WARP OF AN UNTWISTED THERMOPLASTIC MULTIFILAMENT YARN COMRPISING, SIMULTANEOUSLY IMPARTING A FOLDING CRIMP TO A PARALLEL PLURALITY OF MULTIFILAMENT YARNS, AND PASSING SAID FOLD IMPARTED CRIMPED YARNS IN FRICTIONAL CONTACT OVER AN EDGED MEANS TO THEREBY FORCE THE CRIMPS IN THE YARNS OUT-OFPHASE RELATIVE TO THE CRIMPS IN ADJACENT YARNS. 